I want to start with a disclaimer, these blog posts about mental health tools & Rise Up Supplement’s nootropic supplement line are intended to support one's mental health. Let me be direct & super honest with you, there is no replacement for the therapeutic quality of meeting up with a licensed clinician one on one! With that said, your boy (me), is a licensed clinician & today I will be writing about FEAR. Yes, that scary, gut-turning word (evil laugh here) FEAR! If you envisioned your favorite scary movie I would understand, however, that is not the FEAR I am referring to in this blog post. We are all born with an incredible brain! One of the foundational jobs of your brain is to protect you or, in some cases, preserve your life. Many of us today do not share the same FEAR that our ancestors did. Typically, we don’t stress about running into lions, tigers, or bears while we are out looking for dinner. Our FEAR today is probably more like losing our ability to financially provide for our loved ones (getting fired!), unknown biomedical health epidemics (COVID-19!), division within our beautiful country (donkey or elephant!), acceptance on ALL five hundred social media platforms today (obvious exaggeration!), & living up to personal or peer expectations (comparing your behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reel!). We are a social species of over-thinkers, catastrophic-thinkers, worry-warts, etc.
Want to overcome it!?! I have a tool that may help you when your FEAR starts getting the best of you. So, FEAR, I know you all have heard this acrostic or acronym, but hang in here with me for one second. Yes, False Evidence Appearing Real (F.E.A.R.), I can hear you laughing & that’s okay (feels good, right? You’re welcome!). For my tool portion of this blog, I want to focus on the “E” Evidence. Here is the tool, get out a blank sheet of paper, and draw a line down the middle, on the top left-hand side write “facts”, & on the top right-hand side write “fantasy/the story”. Sweet, now you are ready to challenge that FEAR! Working as a counselor, I get a lot of court referral clients so I will use that as my example given (e.g.) for this “check the facts” tool. Think about the situation that provokes that FEAR emotion. In your left-hand column (under facts) write down the hard facts of the situation. For one of my clients (e.g.), this would be their next upcoming court date, what portion of the adjudication process they're at (first appearance, pre-trial, trial, etc.), their last contact with their attorney, the severity of their charge, the min & max sentence their charge carries, the number of prior offenses they have, you get the idea, right? In your right-hand column (under fantasy/the story) write down the “fantasy/the story" you are telling yourself about the situation. For one of my clients (e.g.), this could be “I am going to jail!”, “What if my attorney does not show up?”, “I don’t know how to read all this legal jargon, what does this all mean?”, “What is the difference between a class A misdemeanor & a class B misdemeanor?”, “Based on my record this is probably going to be enhanced to a felony!”, you get the idea, right?
Now that you have worked both sides of that paper, put it in a backpack or travel bag & get it out of your head! No seriously, you have worked the problem to the best of your cognitive capacity. Put it somewhere safe that you will remember & go for a walk, jog, hike, bike, etc. When you get back call someone you trust that has more experience in this situation than you do. Could be your counselor, pastor, priest, bishop, friend, family member, etc. Set plans to meet up & bring your paper with you. When you get there inform them that this crazy counselor on the internet convinced you to challenge your FEAR & begin reviewing the list with them. If your left-hand column (under facts) is short, you might realize you just need assistance finding out & truly understanding the situation. We tend to make things super big in our heads when we don’t understand or are unaware of the facts. For one of my clients (e.g.), the “fantasy/the story” they are telling themselves about getting taken off the court floor & thrown into jail can easily be let go of when they understand what happens during a first appearance court hearing. So, you might be able to cross some of the “fantasy/the story” off the list once you know and/or understand the facts. If the person supporting you does not know about something in the left-hand column (under facts), Google it together. Education & information is power! If there are things in the right-hand column (under fantasy/the story), that you are unable to rule out, then the process of sharing that “fantasy/the story” with your support may prove to be cathartic (relieving). If you truly do not have a positive, trusted, knowledgeable support person in your life, call a mental health support line like 1-800-950-NAMI or 1-800-950-6264. Seriously, they are the National Alliance on Mental Illness which fields more than just crisis/suicide calls.
This is a Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) exercise, the point of the exercise is to challenge your FEAR, gain a better understanding of your situation, & seek out support so you don’t feel alone. This does not make you “weak”, this does not make you “stupid”. This makes you brave, this makes you educated/informed, & most important, this has the potential to make you feel better. Now for my MINDFUL MOOD mention… (joking but not really joking)! The main ingredients, Lions Mane & Rhodiola, in our MINDFUL MOOD blend are specifically designed to be natural beta blockers. This means they assist in the suppression of the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) which slows that automatic part of your brain that is constantly scanning to protect you (hopefully there are no lions, tigers, or bears around). This might go down as the best blog I have written to date (fingers crossed someone will read it)! If you have found it to be enjoyable, educational/informational, and/or entertaining. Please share it on your social media or send the link to your people. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. These are way more fun than my college essays!
-Jared R. Miller